Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday accused the Union government of staging a “sham” in the name of promoting Indian languages, alleging that recent moves in education amount to language imposition.
In a statement, Stalin said the newly introduced CBSE syllabus is not a routine reform but a step aimed at centralisation by prioritising Hindi under the cover of encouraging Indian languages. He argued that the BJP-led government is pushing the agenda with political intent, sidelining the country’s diverse linguistic heritage.
Stalin said the three-language policy is, in effect, an attempt to expand Hindi in non-Hindi-speaking states, and questioned whether students in Hindi-speaking states would be required to study languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali or Marathi. He said the lack of clarity exposes bias and discrimination, and reiterated that Tamil Nadu firmly rejects the three-language policy.
He also criticised Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s remarks as irresponsible, and alleged that the Centre has withheld Rs 2,200 crore under the Samagra Shiksha scheme for Tamil Nadu’s refusal to accept Hindi imposition. Stalin further rejected claims about inadequate school infrastructure in the state and challenged the minister to declare whether every Indian child would be mandated to learn three languages.
Responding, Pradhan said the National Education Policy promotes “language freedom” and prioritises students excelling in their mother tongue. He accused the DMK of misrepresenting the policy as compulsory Hindi, said multilingual skills would strengthen rather than weaken Tamil, and alleged the state government was blocking opportunities for students for vote-bank politics while using the Hindi-imposition narrative to cover administrative failures.
